The UCLA OAIC Recruitment Core (RC) will enhance participation of older persons from diverse[unreadable] communities who are at greatest risk for functional decline and poor health outcomes in studies by providing[unreadable] a structure for sharing expertise in this essential area with a larger group of faculty who are conducting[unreadable] clinical research with the UCLA OAIC. Given the disproportionate burden of chronic diseases and functional[unreadable] impairment among minority elders, and consistent with the theme of the UCLA OAIC, it is critical to have[unreadable] participation of older African Americans and Latinos in the studies linked to the UCLA OAIC so that the[unreadable] interventions developed to maintain independence are generalizable to the populations most in need of[unreadable] them. Additionally, inclusion of minority elders in studies designed to examine the biological mechanisms of[unreadable] successful interventions will provide the data needed to examine whether these mechanisms vary by race[unreadable] and ethnicity. To this end, the Recruitment Core has the following specific aims:[unreadable] 1. To enhance the recruitment of minority elders into studies associated with the UCLA OAIC by[unreadable] creating and maintaining an infrastructure of mutually beneficial academic/community partnerships[unreadable] within South Los Angeles and the Northeast Valley.[unreadable] 2. To conduct a qualitative assessment with the 10 community partners to identify their research priority[unreadable] areas and health goals and to match these areas with the research interests of OAIC faculty.[unreadable] 3. Develop and implement a mentoring curriculum to train and develop highly skilled research scientists[unreadable] in participatory methods focusing on successful strategies for the recruitment of minority elders and[unreadable] communication of research findings to members of minority communities.[unreadable] 4. Establish a monitoring process to evaluate the impact of the RC on key endpoints such as the[unreadable] resources needed to accrue sample in ongoing studies and the knowledge and perceptions about the[unreadable] value of clinical research in the community.[unreadable] The RC will work closely with a Community Action Board (CAB) that is made up of 10 organizations that[unreadable] represent African American and Latino seniors in Los Angeles. All 10 of these groups have participated in[unreadable] federally funded research and the leaders have mentored faculty who are conducting community-based[unreadable] research. During Year 1, the RC will augment and enhance recruitment for 4 extramurally funded projects[unreadable] and a pilot study, implement a curricular and mentoring plan that will develop investigators with expertise in a[unreadable] "community-focused" research perspective, and will work with the CAB to develop strategies for the[unreadable] dissemination of information about new OAIC studies. During years 2 through 5, the RC will also design[unreadable] developmental studies to evaluate the effectiveness of various community-based recruitment strategies.[unreadable]